According to Juval Cohen, a researcher at the Meteorological Institute, reductions in vegetation cover or protection of the barren tundra can slow snow melt in the summer, which in turn helps combat warming of the climate.As snow reflects more of the sun’s rays back into the atmosphere than bare ground, snow keeps the temperatures cool. Snowless terrain, on the other hand, absorbs heat from the sun.Satellite images show that snow nearly always melts on the Norwegian side of the border before it does in Finland. Aside from differences in vegetation cover, other factors such as temperatures, rainfall and sunshine did not vary significantly.“On the Norwegian side vegetation was thicker, which stems from the fact that reindeer graze more on the Finnish side of the border,” said Cohen.

The Finnish Meteorological Institute does not give any reason for why reindeer graze more on the Finnish side of the open border. Could it be that they are all remote controled (maybe using new Nokia apps?) to save only the Finnish side from catastrophic global warming?